Recap: Union Fall 3-0 to Salt Lake

Sandy, UT (May 8, 2010) – Philadelphia Union (1-5-0) dropped
their fourth straight league match on Saturday 3-0 to Real Salt Lake
(3-3-1) at Rio Tinto Stadium. Mistakes proved costly once again for the
Union, who looked far better than the result would indicate.

“We are not in the
business of moral victories," Manager Peter Nowak said after the loss.
"We did play good soccer, but we need to convert in order to get
results. I am glad that we played this way, but in the second half we
were chasing the game. They got another goal and that should not have
happened. We need to keep the concentration and keep our focus and try
to score a goal. Teams will collect on our mistakes.

“If
we keep our style of play then it is going to pay off, then we are
going to score the first goal and we won’t be chasing the game, and then
we will win games. We have to have patience and discipline. We have a
difficult stretch, there is no doubt about that, but we are not going to
lose our passion, we are not going to lose our focus, and we are not
going to lose our spirit because that is more important than anything.”

The Union had two
chances to strike first, but were unable to convert. In the 16th minute,
Nick Rimando’s clearance went right to Jack McInerney, who momentarily
had a wide open goal from 25 yards out. But by the time the striker set
up his shot, Jamison Olave was able to deflect McInerney’s attempt.

In the 22nd minute, Jordan Harvey’s cross into the box just missed
McInerney’s head, instead falling to Roger Torres far post. Torres
squared up to goal from just outside the corner of the 6-yard box, but Rimando made a great save on the point blank shot.

Despite controlling
the run of play for much of the first half, a costly error in the back
allowed Real Salt Lake to strike first. Cristian Arrieta’s
errant backpass in the 27th minute was gathered by Alvaro Saborio in
Philadelphia’s penalty area, and after the deflection off of a Jordan
Harvey tackle found Kyle Beckerman, the midfielder fired hard and low
into the lower right corner of the net to put RSL up 1-0.

The Union went down 2-0 early in the second half
after a yellow card was issued to Arrieta when the defender tackled Will
Johnson near the edge of Philadelphia’s box. Chris Seitz got his hands
on Javier Morales’ ensuing free kick from a dangerous position in the
51st minute, but Olave ran through the goalkeepers hands, knocking the
ball past the goal line in the process.

Real Salt Lake struck again in the 70th minute.
After Pablo Campos took a pass from Saboro in Philadelphia’s area,
Campos spun and floated a cross back to a Saboro, who headed the ball
with authority into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

"If we go and hang our
heads after five or six games, then we are in the wrong business,"
added Nowak. "All we have to do is keep our spirit and our motivation
and we will be good. The team works hard every single week and you can
see it with how hard they work during the games. Just the mistakes we
made … they need to be eliminated. Our fitness is good and if we are
going to keep working as we have, one day it will pay off.”

Philadelphia will be
eager to get back in front of their hometown fans next week against FC
Dallas, when the club will play the second of two home games at Lincoln
Financial Field on Saturday, May 15th at 4:00pm before PPL Park’s
opening six weeks later.